American Poets in the 21st Century: Poetics of Social Engagement

Editors: Claudia Rankine and Michael Dowdy

Publisher: Wesleyan University Press (2018)

Poetics of Social Engagement emphasizes the ways in which innovative American poets have blended art and social awareness, focusing on aesthetic experiments and investigations of ethnic, racial, gender, and class subjectivities. Rather than consider poetry as a thing apart, or as a tool for asserting identity, this volume's poets create sites, forms, and modes for entering the public sphere, contesting injustices, and reimagining the contemporary. Like the earlier anthologies in this series, this volume includes generous selections of poetry as well as illuminating poetics statements and incisive essays. This unique organization makes these books invaluable teaching tools. A companion website will present audio of each poet's work.

Poets included: Rosa Alcalá, Brian Blanchfield, Daniel Borzutzky, Carmen Giménez Smith, Allison Hedge Coke, Cathy Park Hong, Christine Hume, Bhanu Kapil, Mauricio Kilwein Guevara, Fred Moten, Craig Santos Perez, Barbara Jane Reyes, Roberto Tejada, and Edwin Torres

Essayists included: John Alba Cutler, Chris Nealon, Kristin Dykstra, Joyelle McSweeney, Chadwick Allen, Danielle Pafunda, Molly Bendall, Eunsong Kim, Michael Dowdy, Brent Hayes Edwards, J. Michael Martinez, Martin Joseph Ponce, David Colón, and Urayoán Noel